Rotary engine, pump, compressor, and the like.



s. cowkum.

ROTARY ENGINE, PUMP, COMPRESSOR, AND THE LIKE. APPLICATION FILED MAR. 10, 1911.

Patented June 25, 1918.

3 SHEETSSHEET I.

B. CONKHN.

ROTARY ENGINE, PUMP, COMPRESSOR, AND THE LIKE. APPLICATION FILED MAR. I0, 191?.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.-

B. CONKLIN. ROTARY ENGINE, PUMP, COMPRESSEJR, AND THE LIKE. APPLICATION FILED MAR. 10, 19M.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3- Blame (av/rum IAIMFNIGIE Patented June 25, 1918.

BRUCE CONKLIN, OF LONDON, ENGLAND.

ROTARY ENGINE, PUMP, COMPRESSOR, AND THE LIKE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 25, 1911..

Application filed March 10, 1917. Serial No. 153,903.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, BRUCE CONKLIN, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at London, in the county of Middlesex, England, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Rotary Engines, Pumps, Compressors, and the like, of which the following is a specification.

This invention has reference to rotary engines of the kind described in the specification of my co-pending application for patent Serial No. 32177, dated 4th June 1913 of which I am patentee.

In my aforesaid prior specification I have described and illustrated a rotary engine comprising two concentrically mounted elements relatively movable in an angular direction-one of said elements having a plurality of rotary abutments and the other a plurality of vanes in which the live workingfluid is admitted to the inner of said elements-which serves as a steam chest or working fluid chamber-through a tubular shaft concentric with the axis of rotation of the engine said working fluid being then distributed through ports situated near one edge of the periphery of said inner element to correspondingly located ports in the outer concentrically mounted element whence it is conducted by passages or ducts in said outer element to the annular space between theelements constituting the working chamber to drive the vanes thereby producing rotary motion of the outer element or casing.

In this construction the expended Or low pressure fluid was exhausted through ports in the inner and outer elements which ports as they registered during rotation of the outer element permitted the low pressure or exhaust fluid to flow to and through a passage concentric with the aforesaid tubular shaft.

I have successfully demonstrated that an engine embodying the invention set forth in my aforesaid prior specification 1s capable of developing considerable eificiencywith a minimum consumption of working fluid but practical experience has also shown me that by certain alterations more particularly in the disposition and operation of the induction and exhaust ports considerable increase in the general efficiency of the engine may be obtained while important advantages also accrue from the details of construction as will be more particularly hereinafter referred to. a

The chief objects therefore of the present invention are to effect the introduction and exhaust of the working fluid under more advantageous conditions as to efliciency than in any engine of the kind described in my prior specification; to obtain a more even balance during running, to prevent or at least reduce as much as possible unequal expansion of the working parts and to prevent leakage of the working fluid between certain of the moving parts which during running are in contact with each other.

With these and such other objects as may hereinafter appear or are incidental theretomy invention in its broadest aspect may be said to contemplate a construction of the aforesaid kind in which means are provided for introducing the working fluid simultaneously to both sides of the expansion chambers and for continuously exhausting the low pressure fluid.

More specifically stated the invention consists in providing the inner element or drum with two separate series of induction ports located respectively near each edge of the periphery thereof and adapted to cooperate with correspondingly located ports in the outer rotatable element to simultaneously introduce the working fluid to the annular expansion or working chambers and in which the exhaust of the low pressure fluid is effected through ports which are at all times in communication with the atmosphere.

A further feature of the invention consists in the means employed for maintaining fluid tight contact between certain of the parts in contact during running.

The invention also comprises the details of construction and arrangement of parts as more particularly hereinafter referred to.

In order thatmy invention may be readily understood and carried into efiect by those skilled in the art to which it appertains I will now proceedto describe the same fully for which purpose reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 represents a vertical longitudinal section through an engine embodying my present invention.

Fig. 2 illustrates a section taken along the line aa of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 shows a section taken along the line b ofFig. 1.

Fig. 4 represents a line cc of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5'is an end elevation of my improved rotary engine looking in the direction of the arrow (2 in Fig. l.

Figs. 6 and 7 are detail views hereinafter more particularly referred to.

Referringnow to Fig. 1 a hollow drum 1 is secured to a tubular shaft 2 supported at one end by the bearing 3 the other end of said drum being made to nest by means of the antifriction rollers 4 within a rotating outer casing 5 j ournaled at one end by means of antifriction bearing 5 on an end bearing 6 similar to bearing 3 and at the other end of the casing 5 by means of antifriction bearings 7 about the stationary drum shaft 3. The drum 1 is recessed at a plurality of points to accommodate a plurality of rotary abutments 8, 8, Fig. 3each of which is formed with a pocket or slot 9 to allow the vanes 10, 10, 10 and 10 which are secured to the casing 5 to pass from one side of the rotary abutments to the other as said outer casing 5 rotates in the direction of the arrow 6 in Fig. 2.

The drum 1 is formed with a plurality of induction ports l1Figs. 1 and lnear one edge of the periphery thereof while another set of induction ports Iii-Figs. l and 3-are formed near the opposite edge of said periphery. V

The outer casing 5 is formed with two sets of ports 12 and 14 connected by the transverse passage or duct 15 which communicates by means of the elongated port 16 wlth the working or expansion chamber 17 con stituted by the annular space between the drum 1 and easing '5. I attach considerable importance to this arrangement of the induction ports as by introducing the working fluid simultaneously at both sldes of the section taken along the expansion chamber I am enabled to materially reduce the induction period that is to say a much more rapid cut-off is obtalned with the same volume of live fluid than is the case where the fluid is introduced to the expansion chamber from ports at oneside only of the, hollow drum.

Further'a'dvantages of this arrangement are that where steam is' employed as the working tion will be minimized while expansion of theworkingparts will be equalized owing to the introduction of the'live steam at both sides ofithe expansion. chamber. 1

Assuming the parts to be in the position fluid difficulties due to condensaillustrated in Fig. 2 it will be seen that the rotary abutment 8 vanes 10 drum 1 and outer casing 5 determines the expansion chamber 17 and as the working fluid is admitted through the tubular shaft 2 to the drum 1 it will be distributed through the ports 11, 12, 13, 141when these ports are in register as will happen in the course of the rotation of the casing 5 with respect to the stationary drum lduct l5 elongated port 16 to said expansion chamber 17 and the expansion of the live fluid within said chamber will continue until the vane 8 reaches and passes into the pocket 9 of the rotary abutment 8'. lVhen the vane 10 reaches the position 10 indicated in Fig. 2 the entire amount of the possible expansion of the fluid entering through the port 16 has taken place in the expansion chamber 17 and during this movement the exhaust of the previous working charge in front of the vane 10 is being effected in a manner which I will now proceed to describe for which purpose reference should be had to Figs. 1, 2 and 5.

he outer casing 5 is formed with alongside ports 18 in constant communication by ducts l9 and 20 and the annular chamber or duct 21 with the atmosphere at 22 or the usual exhaust pipe. This arrangement for exhausting the low pressure fluid is an important feature of my invention for it will be noted that the exhaust ports are always open to atmosphere and the low pressure fluid is exhausted continuously from the front of the vanes in contradistinction to my previously referred to construction wherein the exhaust was cut off during a period of each power impulse.

Important advantages result from this feature of my invention as it will be apparent that in a construction where for a portion of the exhaust period the exhaust ports are closed a certain amount of compression of the low pressure fluid will take place before the exhaust ports again open and in an engine of the type to which this invention relates where there is a continuous turning movement due to the number of power impulses imparted to the rotary element in each revolution this intermittent compression of the exhaust fluid produces a retardation of the rotary movement which is detrimental to the efliciency of the engine.

I will now describe the method of constructing the vanes and forming the pockets or slots in the rotary abutments for it will be obvious that to obtain the greatest efficiency in a rotary engine of the kind described it is of primary importance to prevent losses arising from leakage of the workingfluid between those parts of the device determining whichare in rolling contact when the engine the expansion chamber is running. Unless the form of the vanes and of the pockets in the rotary abutments is determined with great accuracy serious 7 losses will occur during the passage of the vane through the pocket. With the object of obviating such losses I' construct the vanes with curved faces-see Fig. 6--the radii of the curves 23 being equal to the radius 2 1 of the inner annular surface of the outer casing 5. Theradius 25 of the pocket or slot in the rotary abutments is equal to one half the distance 26 between the inner annular surface of the casing 5 and the periphery of the drum 1 while the mouth 37 of the pocket is equal to the Width 23 of the vane where it abuts against the inner annular surface of the casing 5. By constructing these parts in the manner described I am enabled to maintain a substantially fluid tight joint between the vanes and the pockets while the vanes are passing from one'side of the rotary abutments to the other as during this movement one side or the other is in fluid tight contact with the mouth of the pocket.

In order to prevent leakage of the working fluid betweenthe rotary abutments and the recess in the drum in which they rotate I may form a groove in said recess extending from one corner of the mouth thereof to the opposite diagonal corner of said mouth see Fig. 7-and locate therein a suitable packing strip 39. I

It will be understood that means are provided for maintaining fluid tight contact between the various parts of the engine during running such as by the provision of piston rings and'packing strips and also for securing the proper timing of the rotary abutments with respect to the vanes which in the construction illustrated by the accompanying drawings is obtained by a gear wheel 30-see Fig. 1-keyed to the shaft 31 of each rotary abutment and adapted to mesh with an internally toothed ring 32 built into the outer casing 5.

Means are also provided for efficiently lubricating the moving parts such as by the provision of the ducts 33 but such features do not form part of thepresent invention.

The operation of an engine embodying my invention is as follows: The working fluid entering the drum 1 through the tubular shaft 2 is distributed through the ports 11, 12, 13 and 14 the ducts 15 elongated ports 16 to the expansion chambers behind the vanes 10,10" 10 10 Fig. 2--in their respective order of sequence. The expansion of the working fluid drives the vanes and consequently the outer casing in a clockwise direction while the low pressure fluid in front of the vanes is free to pass without obstruction to the exhaust outlet 22 through the ports 18 and the ducts 19, 20 and 21.

' In the construction herein described the ports in the drum and rotatable casing are so disposed relatively to each other as to produce between each two abutments' in succession a working stroke or power impulse and exhaust of the previous working charge and since there are three abutments and four vanes there will be produced twelve power impulses per revolution of the outer casing 5 but by increasing the number of rotary abutments and vanes any desired number'of power impulses within certain limits may be obtained.

In the foregoing specification I have described the construction and operation of myimproved engine as a prime mover actuated by steam or similar expansible fluid but it will be apparent that the device may be used as a compressor or exhauster by applying power to the outer casing and rotating it in a counter-clockwise direction.

By admitting the working fluid through what are normally the exhaust passages and ports and exhausting through the aforesaid tubular shaft 2 the outer casing 5 will be caused to rotate in a counter-clockwise direction.

While I have described the preferred construction of parts and operation thereof I am aware that numerous changes of con struction and operation may bemade with out departing from the spirit and scope of the invention and I therefore do not wish to be understood as limiting the scope of my claims by the positive terms employed in connection with the description.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is 1. In a rotary engine a stationary inner element Or drum an outer rotating casing concentrically mounted in relation thereto with an intervening annular space a plurality of rotary abutments in the stationary drum a plurality of vanes in the rotary casing a chamber in said drum means concentric with the axis of rotation of the engine for introducing the working fluid to said chamber in the drum means for effecting the distribution of said working fluid simultaneously to both sides of the expansion chambers and means for maintaining the said expansion chambers constantly open to the atmosphere so that the low pressure fluid is continually exhausted therefrom.

2. In a rotary engine a stationary inner element or drum an outer rotating casing concentrically mounted in relation thereto with an intervening annular space a plurality of rotary abutments in the stationary drum a plurality of vanes in the rotating casing a chamber in said drum two separate series of induction ports situated respectively near the edges of the periphery of the drum admission ports located in the rota- 7 table casing and, cooperating with the said induction ports to pass or introduce theworking fluid from said Working fluid chamber in'the drum to the expansion chambers constituted by the rotary abutments and.

vanes in the aforesaid annular intervening space between-the inner stationary or drum and the outer'rotating casing and exhaust ports and ducts in the said casing constantly, open to the atmosphere for continually exhausting the low pressure. fluid or products of combustion.

3. In a rotary engine a stationary inner element or drum an outer rotating casing concentrically mounted in relation thereto withan intervening annular space achamber in said drum a plurality of rotary abutments in the stationary drum a plurality of vanes in the rotating casing whereof the contactingsides are formed with curvatures corresponding in radius with the curvature of the inner surface of the rotatable casing pocketsin the rotary abutments for housing the vanes while they pass from the one side to the other of said abutments the distance of separation of the lips of the pockets corresponding with the transverse dimension of the base of the vanes means concentric with the axis of rotation of the engine for introducing the working fluid to said chamber in the drum means for effecting the distribution of said Working fluid simultaneously to both sides of the expansion chambers and means formaintaining the said expansion chambers constantly open to the atmosphere and for continually exhausting the lowpreselement sure, fluid or products of combustion therefrom. 7

4c. In a rotary engine a stationary inner element or drum an outer rotating casing concentrically mounted in relation thereto with an intervening annular space a chamher in said drum for the working fluid a plurality of rotary abutments in the stationary drum a plurality of vanes in the rotating casing whereof the contact sides are formed with curvatures corresponding in radius with the curvature of the inner surface of the rotatable casing pockets in the rotary abutments for housing the vanes while they pass from the one side to the other of the said abutments thedistance of separation of the lips of the pockets corresponding with the transverse dimension of the base of the vanes two separate series of induction ports situated respectively near the edges of the periphery of the drum admission ports located in the rotatable casing and cooperating with the said induction ports to pass or introduce the working fluid from the said working fluid chamber in the drum to the expansion chambers constituted by the rotary abutments and vanes in the aforesaid annular intervening space between the inner stationary element or drum and the outer rotating casing and exhaust ports and ducts in the said casing constantly open to the atmosphere for continually exhausting the low pressure fluid or products of combustion from the said expansion or working chamber of the engine.

BRUCE CONKLIN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

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